//------------------------------// // Somepony Has A Secret // Story: We Believe In You, Luna // by KayeStar //------------------------------// Luna stretched out her legs and flexed her wings. Normally, she woke up in her crescent moon-shaped bed with her slippers by her bedside. This day, however, she woke before noon in the castle of Princess Twilight Sparkle. At Twilight's insistence, she agreed to return there after her fulfilling her nightly duty of the patrolling the dream realm, though Twilight had also asked her to return somewhat earlier than she normally would. No explanation was offered, but Luna agreed, assuming Twilight would discuss matters later. She heard the doors to her given room open just as she climbed out of the bed. She quickly straightened out the cover to neaten the bed, and turned to greet, to her surprise, three young familiar faces. "Good morning, Princess Luna!" the cutie mark crusaders said in unison, almost as if rehearsed. "Good morning, young ones. I did not expect to see you." A few quiet giggles didn't go unnoticed by Luna, but she humored them and didn't speak of it. All three raced over to their night princess and surrounded her. "Princess Luna, what's today?" Sweetie Belle asked. Luna thought for a few moments. Had some event slipped her mind? A modern holiday? A celebration? Some more unintentionally noticeable giggles from the three fillies didn't help her thoughts. Luna gave up. "I'm afraid I do not know. What is the occasion?" Luna asked. The fillies now frowned and exchanged glances with one another, but their smiles soon recovered. "Luna, your sister invited us to the castle!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "We were hoping you'd take us!" "By train!" Scootaloo quickly interjected. "We were hoping we could ride the train with you." All three flashed their biggest innocent smiles, and Luna couldn't help feeling something strange was going on. Still, having the soft spot she did for her young friends, she agreed to escort them to Canterlot castle by train. "Yes!" Scootaloo cheered. "This'll be the best---!" Apple Bloom quickly threw a hoof over Scootaloo's mouth. "Scootaloo!" "I wasn't going to say it!" Scootaloo argued, muffled by Apple Bloom's hoof. Luna stared suspiciously, but the fillies raced out of the room, calling for Luna to follow. Luna put the scene out of her mind and hurried after the young ones. An hour later, Luna was on a train ride to Canterlot with three suspiciously eager fillies. Except to remind them to stay seated (they were three energetic fillies, after all), Luna hadn’t said a word. Instead, she was looking out the window, lost in her thoughts as she tried to think of what occasion she was forgetting. And while she certainly didn’t mind the little ones visiting the castle, it wasn’t like Celestia to invite anypony without telling Luna ahead of time. Plus, while it was a thought Luna kept to herself, she was aware when her little friends got involved in something, it wasn’t solely for giggles. Somepony was planning something. Luna just couldn’t piece it together. “Luna!” Sweetie Belle’s voice instantly broke Luna out of her thoughts. “Luna, we were wondering… can you sing?” “That is a peculiarly timed question, Sweetie Belle,” Luna murmured. “Why do you ask?” “Since you go into ponies’ dreams, we were just thinking you probably sing them to sleep sometimes too. Right?” “Well, yes, I do occasionally try to lull those who struggle to sleep with a melody.” “Luna!” Scootaloo interrupted. “Do ponies ever have dreams about you that aren’t really you there?” “On occasion, I’ve seen such dreams,” Luna answered. “Like what? Cool dreams? Spooky dreams?” Scootaloo snickered. “Grown-up dreams?” Luna blushed slightly at that last one. She saw more than her fair share of “grown-up” dreams about her. There was a reason she usually gave more mind to the dreams of younger ponies. The last “grown-up” dream of herself she ever saw gave her nightmares. “Various dreams, Scootaloo,” Luna finally replied. “Luna!” Apple Bloom butted in. “Apples or pears?” “Cauliflower,” Luna replied dully, prompting all three fillies to stick out their tongues in disgust. It was a false answer. Just one Luna gave to tease them a bit since they seemed to be doing that to her. Before another random question could be asked, a loud wail caught all four ponies’ attention. They looked around and Luna was the first to spot the source: an upset foal. Curious, Luna walked over to the mother, followed closely by the crusaders. “Sorry, honey. Mommy can’t get it,” the mother was saying, though it clearly wasn’t working. “Excuse me, ma’am,” Luna politely interrupted. “Is all okay?” “Your Highness!” the mother answered in shock. “Oh, it’s nothing. My daughter’s balloon flew out the window.” Thinking quickly, and getting an idea from her mane, Luna lit the tip of her horn and formed a twinkling star. She carefully hovered it over to the foal, who noticed it almost immediately and looked at it in wonder. Luna then made the star move around and the foal tried to grab it. That continued for a few seconds until Luna made the star burst into tiny sparkles that vanished. The foal clapped her hooves and laughed. “Like her!” the foal exclaimed. She reached out for Luna. “Funny pony!” “Thank you, Your Highness!” the mother told Luna. “You are most welcome.” With the foal calm and content now, Luna and the crusaders returned to their seats. “Bye, pony!” The train was now one stop away from Canterlot station, so the four of them would soon be getting off the train. “Wow, Luna. That was really nice of you! Why’d you do that?” Apple Bloom asked. “There wasn’t reason I shan’t,” Luna replied. “It was to be kind, Apple Bloom. Nothing more.” “Do you like kids like us?” The fillies hugged one another, showing their big smiles. “Yes,” Luna admitted with a small laugh. “I do enjoy the company of young ones like yourselves and that foal.” “More than delegates and nobilities of court,” she mentally added.